England chose a tricky match against the new African Cup
Champions, Egypt, for a warm up friendly fixture as the clock counts
down to the World Cup in South Africa. As it turned out, in the
first 45 minutes the Egyptians showed just why they had succeeded in
the recent tournament.

England began well
and after just four minutes Frank Lampard had a golden chance to
give England the lead. Wayne Rooney combined with Theo Walcott down
the right and the Arsenal winger's cross was tailor-made for Lampard,
but his first time shot was blocked by the Egyptian goalkeeper Al
Hadari. The Chelsea man should have scored and he knew it too.
Still, England looked positive and confident, although they did lack
the assertive play that was needed. Only Gareth Barry in the
midfield was consistently battling away and too often it was as
individuals rather than collectively that England attacked.

At the other end
there were moments of slackness and Jermaine Defoe cleared one
scuffed shot off the line, as Egypt threatened from a corner.
Mohammed Zidan was particularly lively for the visitors and he shot
just over after another good attack. England's problem was that
they were not pressing as a team and they allowed Egypt to dictate
for long spells. In the end it came as no real surprise when the
visitors took a deserved lead, albeit with a little help from
Matthew Upson. Upson and the under pressure John Terry had looked
reasonably secure in the middle of the defence, but in the 23rd
minute a pass came in from the left towards Zidan, Upson slipped at
a crucial moment, and the striker had a clear shot at goal which he
despatched with aplomb.

Egypt grew in
confidence, with Hassan running the show in midfield, but England
did up their game a little, and the one consolation for them was
that they were still creating chances. Rooney, whose touch wasn't
quite as sharp as usual on the night, headed wide and Defoe fired in
a good shot, which was well saved again by the keeper. The Spurs
striker also headed a Wes Brown cross just over as England fought
for parity at the break. The best chance again fell to Lampard from
a corner but again he failed with his attempted shot and the ball
bounced over.

The first half ended
with England still trailing, there had been plenty of endeavour but
no real cohesion. Rooney showed he shared the crowd's frustrations
and screamed at his teammates for more effort. Barry had worked
tirelessly but Gerrard, captain for the night, failed to make any of
his trademark surging runs into the danger area. Walcott faded
after a promising start, Leighton Baines did nothing wrong at
left-back on his debut, but Brown had a poor match on the other
flank, repeatedly giving the ball away.

At the break Fabio
Capello decided to make two changes bringing on Peter Crouch for
Defoe and Michael Carrick for Lampard. And right from the restart
it was obvious that he had told his players to press the Egyptians
back further and quicker. Soon Rooney nearly broke through before
England found a peach of an equaliser in the 56th
minute. Swift one-touch passing from Carrick to Gerrard to Barry
ended with a first-time cross that Crouch swept home in brilliant
fashion. It was lightening quick and a quality finish.

John Terry despite
all his recent problems was still England's best and most
disciplined defender and all credit to him for rising above all the
hoo hah that has surrounded him lately.

With 15 minutes left
England turned the game around with another well worked goal, and
again the substitutes were involved. Baines's cross was deflected
to James Milner who hit a powerful shot with his left foot, which
the keeper parried. The ball bounced out to Shaun Wright-Phillips
and his shot found the net. There was a slight swerve on the shot
but Al Hadari will be disappointed with his contribution to the
goal.

On 80 minutes
England made the game safe with another excellent goal from the
prolific Crouch. This time Brown had his best moment of the game
with a good pass to send Wright-Phillips away. Again a first-time
cross gave Crouch his chance and that is now 20 international goals
for the big man. It rounded off a fine second half comeback and
sent the crowd home happy. It was also the England team's 500th
win and sends us on our way to the World Cup in good spirits.
Although Crouch was named official man of the match, the best player
on the night was undoubtedly Barry who had a superb game throughout
the whole 90 minutes. He even ended the game as captain, the third,
after Gerrard and Rooney, to wear the armband during the evening.